Why Tua over Herbert? Another cornerback? Grier, Flores discuss Dolphins’ draft plan
Shortly after the conclusion of the busiest, and possibly most important, first round of the NFL Draft in Dolphins history, the team’s top two decision-makers spoke with reporters about Tua Tagovailoa, Austin Jackson and Noah Igbinoghene.
The biggest takeaways:
▪ While Tagovailoa intends to compete to start right away, the Dolphins are not going to rush him onto the field, particularly since he’s still five months removed from a major hip injury.
“I’ll say my kids are expecting him [to be ready], but we haven’t even seen him,” Flores said. “Our doctors haven’t seen him. We’re a long way to go before we can say who’s doing what. It’s way too early to speculate on this year and how this is going to go.”
Are there concerns about his long-term health?
“Football is a violent game,” Grier said. “We did a lot of work on him. ... We’re very comfortable.”
▪ Why Tagovailoa over Justin Herbert, who was also available when the Dolphins went on the clock?
“There were a lot of good players at that position,” Flres said. “We did our homework on every one of them for multiple days, multiple weeks. At the end of the day, we felt like that was the best choice for the Miami Dolphins.”
He added: “Good player, good person, leadership qualities. We’re very happy with the pick.”
▪ You know all the conflicting media reports about which QB the Dolphins wanted? The Dolphins consumed those with both amusement and puzzlement.
“Brian and I had a few laughs on some of the stuff that came out,” Grier said. “... For us, it was noise on the outside. Work through it and go through our process.”
Flores added: “We didn’t know where a lot of this stuff was coming from. It was very interesting to say the least.”
▪ Grier confirmed that the Dolphins did indeed try to move up to the first overall pick, but the Bengals weren’t interested.
“We’re calling everyone and just doing homework,” he added. “We talked to everybody. There was nothing definitive with anyone.”
▪ Jackson, the USC lineman taken with the 18th pick, says he can play both left and right tackle, and the Dolphins don’t seem to be in any hurry to slap a label on him.
Flores said “what we’re trying to get is a good player. Right tackle, left tackle, we want to bring in good players to work and compete.”
▪ Why did the Dolphins take Noah Igbinoghene even though they already had two Pro Bowl caliber cornerbacks?
He was “the best player on the board,” Grier said. “... You can never have enough corners. It’s a premium position. The more you have, the better.”
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 1:00 AM.
